Kanye as Jesus on February 2006 Rolling Stone cover. ‘Nuff said.
As usual, I have been bombarded with celebrity “news” on my homepage this week. And it seems that Kanye has struck again. So, just for fun, I thought I would do a little piece on the many perplexing behaviors of the “greatest rock star in the world” and the possible psychological conditions that could cause them.
Kanye’s biggest and most well known flaw is his massive ego. Now, there is a difference between someone with a colossal ego, and someone with a colossal ego who does not have enough of a grip on reality and social boundaries to not call himself the voice of god in interviews.
Here are some fun, egotistical quotes from the rapper:
“If I was just a fan of music, I would think that I was the number one artist in the world.”
“Rap is the new rock and roll…. We the rock stars, and I’m the biggest of all of them.”
“If I don’t win, the award show loses credibility.” (In 2006, when he lost the “Best Video” award at the MTV Europe Music Awards).
“I am undoubtedly, you know, Steve [Jobs] of Internet, downtown, fashion, culture. Period. By a long jump.”
“I’m doing pretty good as far as geniuses go/And I’m lookin’ pretty hood in my pink polo”- “Barry Bonds”
“I am a god/Hurry up with my damn massage/Hurry up with my damn ménage/Get the Porsche out the damn garage/I am a god”- “I Am a God”- Yeezus
Kanye exhibits excessive feelings of self-importance and obsessive self-interest. He also exaggerates his achievements and talents, and seems to have an inability to feel empathy, as he has no problem storming stages and telling award-winners that they do not deserve their awards (he has done this with Taylor Swift, and two awards that he lost to other nominees). He obviously has no concern for the feelings of others, and he just has to win every award, or he has huge outbursts. These are classic symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder. Another sign of the disorder is completely overreacting to criticism, and West has exhibited serious rage when criticized, especially in the last week:
“JIMMY KIMMEL IS OUT OF LINE TO TRY AND SPOOF IN ANY WAY THE FIRST PIECE OF HONEST MEDIA IN YEARS”
“YOU CAN’T PUT YOURSELF IN MY SHOES. YOUR FACE LOOKS CRAZY… IS THAT FUNNY?…OR IF I HAD A KID SAY IT WOULD IT BE FUNNY???”
“SARAH SILVERMAN IS A THOUSAND TIMES FUNNIER THAN YOU AND THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS IT!!!”
CAPS LOCK ALERT. While disliking criticism is normal, responding to it in a public arena in such a drastic way is completely irrational and shows a total lack of social understanding and boundaries.
Additionally, Kaye West shows signs of psychosis. While I doubt he experiences regular hallucinations, he definitely suffers from fantastical delusions. He has openly called himself a genius, and the greatest and most talented musician in the world. Some would say this is a matter of opinion. However, someone who is a “proud non-reader of books”, and says that “you know this is me because it has grammatical errors” in his tweets, is clearly not a genius. Especially when considering some of his most nonsensical/dense/offensive lyrics:
“At the mall, there was a séance/Just kids, no parents/Then the sky filled with herons/Saw the devil in Chrysler LeBaron”- from “Dark Fantasy”.
“But I can’t complain what the accident did to my left eye/’Cos look what an accident did to Left Eye”- from “Never Let Me Dow”
“My apologies, are you into astrology/Cause I’m tryin’ to make it to Uranus”- from “Getting’ It In”
“Black girl sippin’ white wine/Slip my fist in her civil rights sign”- Yeezus
“In a French-ass restaurant/Hurry up with my damn croissants”- Yeezus
French-ass? ….. French-ass?
How sophisticated. Real genius talk.
“Eatin’ Asian pussy/All I need is sweet and sour sauce”- Yeezus
If Kanye West did not have access to a rhyming dictionary, he would probably be unable to write anything. He even goes so far as to use the same exact phrase to rhyme: “Left eye” and “left eye”. Obtuse. West frequently uses words in his lyrics that rhyme with the last lyric of the previous verse, but make absolutely no sense in any possible context, and I am quite sure he has no idea what they mean. His most frequently used words are “dopeness” and “awesomeness”. His “art” usually has no emotional or philosophical depth whatsoever, and does not make sense in a literal perspective either. His “songs” cannot be considered art or intellect, and there is no way he can be considered a genius. His belief that he is not only a genius, but also a messenger of god and the greatest musician in the world, is completely based on non-reality. This is a full-fledged delusion, a common symptom of psychosis.
While I am not inside Kanye West’s brain (quite fortunately, might I add), his interviews and “Tweets” often jump around quickly from mundane things like his “antique fish tank” and “marble conference tables” to radical political statements and accusations. This may indicate disorganized thinking, another symptom of psychosis.
Is Kanye West psychotic? I am neither a psychiatrist nor a psychologist. However, he shows signs of both psychosis and narcissistic personality disorder. Only a professional could diagnose a psychological condition, and he really seems to need professional help, if only to help him better relate to and interact with people.
For further amusement, here is a hilarious video of Josh Groban singing Kanye West “tweets”:
Sources:
U.S. Nat’l Library of Medicine, Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Under the (Bipolar) Covers 